Sec 2 - Almanac News

Menlo-Atherton alums
return to local stage
By Natalie Jabbar
Special to the Almanac
With their first year of
college behind them,
eight Menlo-Atherton
High School alums are reuniting
with two current M-A students
this week to stage a joint production
at Dragon Theatre in
Palo Alto.
The group, called the Vagabond
Players, is made up of
2006 graduates Kim Blanck,
Shayna Carp, Mallory Ortberg,
Ashkahn Jahromi, Ben Gullard,
David Prinvale and Will Boogar,
as well as M-A junior Emily Ota
and senior Aaron Groom.
The troupe is staging two
short plays Thursday through
Saturday, July 12-14.
Ms. Blanck and Ms. Carp
are directing, designing and
performing “Beyond Measure,”
a modern one-act play by G.L.
Horton. The play consists of
a heated, 15-minute dialogue
between a divorced woman and
her ex-husband’s new wife.
Ms. Blanck notes that she and
Ms. Carp chose “Beyond Measure”
because it really allows them
to “play with the space of the
theater” and stretch their creative
abilities as they design the set.
Mr. Jahromi is directing
“Adventures in Monotheism,”
a satire on religious stereotypes
written by one of the Vagabond
Players, Mallory Ortberg. Both
■ INFORMATION
“Beyond Measure” and “Adventures
in Monotheism” will be
performed at 8 p.m. on July 12
through 14 at the Dragon Theatre,
535 Alma St. in Palo Alto.
Tickets can be purchased for $5
at the door, but reservations are
recommended. For more information
and tickets, check out
http://vagabond.co.nr/.
MP chamber
presents annual
street festival
The 21st annual Connoisseur’s
Marketplace — Menlo
Park’s downtown street festival
of music, art, food and family
fun — will be held Saturday
and Sunday, July 21-22, from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. along Santa Cruz
Avenue, from El Camino Real to
Johnson Street.
The Menlo Park Chamber of
Commerce, which presents the
fair, is again setting up tents
along Santa Cruz, where items
See FESTIVAL, page 34
■ THEATER
Mr. Jahromi and Ms. Ortberg
will perform in the production,
along with Mr. Gullard, Ms.
Otta, Mr. Boogar, Mr. Groom
and Mr. Prinvale.
After working with each other
on productions throughout high
school, members of the troupe
are looking forward to coming
together on stage again, Ms.
Blanck says.
“[Our shared experiences]
allow us to communicate beautifully
and also rely on each other
for strength and inspiration
both in rehearsals and onstage,”
she says.
Ms. Blanck, Mr. Jahromi and
Mr. Gullard study theater at
their respective universities,
but the other five alums have
also maintained their ties to the
theater during their first year
out of high school.
“All of us are trying to incorporate
what we have learned
away from home to bring it back
home with the help of the two
current M-A students,” Ms.
Blanck notes. A
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The Almanac/Veronica Weber
Kim Blanck, left, gives some direction to fellow Vagabond players as Shayna Carp looks on during a
rehearsal for “Adventures of Monotheism.”
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July 11, 2007 ■ The Almanac ■ 33
40358